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Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION Developing Leaders for a Networked World (2e)

By Peter W. Cardon

Chapter 14:Planning Presentations

IM 14-1© 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.

Teaching Note

Hello Fellow Instructor,

Most business communication instructors I talk to love the portions of their classes where students develop presentations. I’m the same. We get to put them on stage – to let students envision themselves in a professional environment and present to groups on business topics. It’s wonderful to see the growth of many students in these defining experiences.

I encourage you to help your students focus on brainstorming in the planning stages. I’ve found over the years that most student teams immediately start drafting up their ideas on PowerPoint slides and come to consensus over their ideas quite quickly.

In the past few years, I’ve coached my student teams to spend at least several hours brainstorming without placing any content on slides. I ask them to discuss their audiences thoroughly and brainstorm their many options for content. Generally, the student teams perform far better when they’ve spent enough time brainstorming without committing to their content too quickly.

Please contact me anytime – to share your experiences, your ideas, and your reactions.

Best of wishes,

Peter W. Cardon, MBA, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorCenter for Management CommunicationUniversity of Southern California

Email: [email protected]: @petercardonFacebook: facebook.com/cardonbcommWeb: cardonbcom.com


Chapter 14 Summary and PowerPoint Notes

SLIDE 14-1

SLIDE 14-2

This chapter covers the following topics: planning presentations leads to credibility; principles of audience analysis, including message benefits, learning styles, communicator styles; preview, view, review; effective slide presentations; and story line approach.

SLIDE 14-3

LO14.1 Describe how planning your presentations leads to credibility.LO14.2 Analyze presentation audiences in terms of message benefits, learning styles, and communicator styles.LO14.3 Organize and gather content for a preview, view, and review.


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LO14.4 Develop effective slide presentations.LO14.5 Use the story line approach to presentations.LO14.6 Evaluate your presentations for fairness and effectiveness.

SLIDE 14-5

As you design your presentations and speeches, the AIM planning process will help you, just as it does in the writing process. You’ll analyze your audience to make sure you’re addressing audience members’ needs and speaking to them in the way that is the most appealing and easy to learn.


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You’ll develop your ideas by identifying the key facts and conclusions related to your topic. In this chapter, we do not focus on developing your ideas since this process is largely similar to that for writing.

You’ll construct your message to focus on the key takeaway concepts and provide supporting points throughout. In this chapter we discuss analyzing your audience and structuring your message since these processes have some unique features for presentations.

SLIDE 14-7

Understanding the needs of your audience is one of your first tasks as you develop your presentations. Answer the following questions about your audience:How will audience members benefit from the product, service, or ideas I am proposing? This is the single most important question you can use to guide you as you design your presentation. In particular, focus on benefits that fulfill an unmet need.What do the audience members already know about my product, service, or ideas? Find out whatever you can about your audience members’ knowledge level. If people know little about your product, you will need to spend a proportionately higher amount of your presentation time to inform them.What are my audience members’ chief concerns? Considering this question is particularly important for presentations. Whereas you can take time to gather your thoughts when responding in writing to someone’s concerns, in presentations and other face-to-face communications you must respond immediately.


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Understanding the needs of your audience is one of your first tasks as you develop your presentations. Answer the following questions about the needs of your audience:Who are the key decision makers? Your presentation is generally intended to draw support from your whole audience. Typically, however, some people in your audience have more impact on your ability to achieve your work objectives than do others. These key decision makers are the ones you want to influence the most.What will appeal to your audience? You can influence your audience by employing a combination of emotional and analytical appeals.What is the learning style of your audience? As with communicator styles, audience members have different learning styles, such as visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners.

SLIDE 14-9

Key decision makers are the ones you want to influence the most. For internal presentations, think about those individuals who have the most influence and authority to act on your ideas. For presentations to clients, customers, and prospects, think about which individuals are the decision makers for their organizations or who you perceive as the most likely prospects for future business. Focus most of your attention on them.


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Oral communications, especially speeches and presentations, are well suited to strong emotional appeal, as they create bonds between the speaker and the audience and emotional connections with products, services, and ideas. At the same time, your speeches and presentations will include a set of ideas that you want your audience to appreciate analytically. Plan to make both emotional and analytical connections with your audience. As you’re thinking about emotional and analytical appeals, consider the motivational value systems (MVSs) of your audience members (see Chapter 2).

SLIDE 14-11

As with motivational value systems, audience members have different learning styles. Visual learners, who make up about 40 percent of the population, learn best from illustrations and simple diagrams to show relationships and key ideas. They also enjoy gestures and metaphors. Ironically, text-based PowerPoint slides do not appeal to them much. In contrast, PowerPoint slides rich in images and figures do help visual learners respond to your message.

SLIDE 14-12

Auditory learners, who also comprise roughly 40 percent of the population, like loud, clear voices and believe emotion is best conveyed through voice. Kinesthetic learners, who make up about 20 percent of the population, need to participate to focus their attention on your message and learn best. They need group activities, hands-on activities, or breaks at least every 20 minutes.


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Your first task is to identify the two or three key messages you want to convey. Once you’ve developed these key messages, everything in the presentation should lead back to them. Particularly for presenting to busy executives, summarize your key takeaway messages at the outset and reemphasize them several times.

SLIDE 14-14

Most audience members expect your presentation to include a preview, view, and review (analogous to the introduction, body, and conclusion in written documents). Typically, your preview occupies roughly 10 to 15 percent of your presentation time, your view takes up the vast majority (85 to 90 percent) of your time, and the review takes up the least time (5 percent).

SLIDE 14-15

During that first few minutes, audience members have their answers to the following questions: Am I going to listen? Am I going to benefit from what is said? Will it be valuable enough to take with me? Am I going to act on what I hear?

The preview should generally include an attention-getter, a positioning statement, and an overview. The preview should accomplish the following: create interest, show benefits, demonstrate value, and encourage action—as prompted by the four preceding questions.


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The primary goals of attention-getters are to get your audience members emotionally invested in your presentation and engaged in thinking about your ideas. Table 14.1 focuses on seven types of attention-getters that Latisha could use in her presentation: rhetorical questions, vivid examples, dramatic demonstrations, testimonials or quotations, intriguing statistics, unexpected exercises, and challenges. This is not a comprehensive list, but these strategies are among the most effective. Think about how you might use each option in a presentation.

SLIDE 14-17

Table 14.1 focuses on seven types of attention-getters that Latisha could use in her presentation: rhetorical questions, vivid examples, dramatic demonstrations, testimonials or quotations, intriguing statistics, unexpected exercises, and challenges. This is not a comprehensive list, but these strategies are among the most effective. Think about how you might use each option in a presentation.

SLIDE 14-18

Table 14.1 focuses on seven types of attention-getters that Latisha could use in her presentation: rhetorical questions, vivid examples, dramatic demonstrations, testimonials or quotations, intriguing statistics, unexpected exercises, and challenges. This is not a comprehensive list, but these strategies are among the most effective. Think about how you might use each option in a presentation.


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A positioning statement frames your message in appealing terms to your audience members and demonstrates clear and valuable benefits to them. The positioning statement should be as concise as possible—ideally one to two sentences. With the attention-getter, you engage and capture interest. With the positioning statement, you demonstrate that your presentation is worth paying close attention to for its entirety.

SLIDE 14-20

The final part of the preview is the overview. Ideally, you can state your overview in one to three sentences in simple, conversational language. The overview segments the presentation in terms of key benefits or takeaway messages.

SLIDE 14-21

The majority of your presentation will be devoted to expressing and supporting your views—your two, three, or four key messages. Make sure you can back up your main positions with strong support material. Use support material in moderation, however. Executive communication coach Roly Grimshaw observes that the most serious mistake business managers make is to present the evidence first or present only the evidence and leave out their primary conclusions or central positions. A more successful approach is the PREP method, which involves stating your position, providing the reasons, giving an example or providing evidence, and then restating your position.


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Table 14.2 provides an instance of the PREP method from Latisha’s presentation. As you read through this example, think about what Latisha gains from starting and ending with her position.

SLIDE 14-23

The review comprises a small percentage of your presentation time. However, make sure to have a strong finish—this is the place where you are hoping to gain buy-in on specific actions. First, you will recap your message in just a few sentences. Then, you’ll provide a call to action, where you’ll ask the audience members to make specific commitments.

SLIDE 14-24

Although the use of electronic slides is often effective and nearly ubiquitous for business presentations, take caution. People in the workplace sometimes mock poor electronic slide presentations as suffering death by PowerPoint. Consider some of the comments in Figure 14.1 from business leaders. While well-designed electronic slide presentations can dramatically increase audience learning, poorly designed ones can draw intense negative reactions, as evidenced by the quotations in Figure 14.1.


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Make sure that your presentations tell a story to your audience. To check whether your slides provide a flowing narrative rather than a disjointed set of ideas, line up your slide titles (see Table 14.3). Ask yourself whether the slide titles move naturally through the narrative of your presentation.

SLIDE 14-26

In relation to speeches and presentations, an overarching and effective strategy is to focus on ease of processing. Consider the following approaches to facilitate ease of processing: Limit the amount of information on any given

slide. Readers should be able to grasp the content within 10 to 15 seconds. For text, rarely should you use more than ten words per line nor more than five to six lines.

Use font sizes that all audience members can read easily. For titles, use at least 24-point fonts; for body text, use at least 18-point fonts.

Focus on and highlight key information. Use bold, italics, and other formatting features to make key phrases or key components in figures stand out.

Use plenty of white space. White space is effective for borders and between items and text on slides; it provides an uncluttered appearance.


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Consider the following approaches to facilitate ease of processing: Use high-contrast backgrounds and colors.

Make sure backgrounds do not obscure text. For dark text, use light backgrounds. For light text, use dark backgrounds.

Use compelling images in moderation. One of the basic reasons to use electronic slide presentations is to display images. You can use these images to convey powerful messages efficiently and with emotional power. But make sure you are selective.

Develop simple charts and diagrams. Charts and diagrams can be particularly helpful for simplifying complex data relationships.

Get professional design help when possible. For high-stakes presentations, consider getting help from public relations or design specialists.

SLIDE 14-28

One appealing alternative to PowerPoint is Prezi, presentation software that focuses less on slides and more on movement across a canvas. In contrast to PowerPoint, Prezi presentations are less linear. Typically, Prezi presentations are less ideal when you plan to stop frequently during a presentation for discussion and interaction. Like PowerPoint presentations, one major goal is still to focus on ease of processing. Compared to PowerPoint presentations, keep in mind these tips: Practice, practice, practice. Create a sense of adventure and enthusiasm. Use motion effectively. Integrate video, pictures, graphics, and other

images. Make sure your key messages are the

emphasis.


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The story line approach is useful for various types of presentations because it allows your listeners to engage on a deeper level emotionally and intellectually. Emotionally, they often feel a bond with you as a speaker. Furthermore, they tend to internalize stories, even developing their own parallel stories that evoke commitment, determination, sympathy, and other emotions. However, stories are far more than emotional tools. Research shows that people remember stories more easily than they do abstract information, and they are more likely to act on what they hear via stories.

SLIDE 14-30

Generally, stories for business include the following components: Plot: a business situation that involves

challenges or tensions to overcome and a clear beginning and end.

Setting: the time, place, characters, and context of the business situation.

Resolution: a solution to the challenges or tensions in the story.

Moral or lesson: a point to the story.

SLIDE 14-31

As with all of your communications, ask yourself how fair your business presentations are. Is the content based on facts? Have you granted others access to your real motives and reasoning? Have you been forthright about impacts on audience members and other stakeholders? Have you ensured that you show respect for audience members (see Figure 14.4)?


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After studying this chapter, you should understand the following topics: planning presentations leads to credibility; principles of audience analysis; message benefits, learning styles, communicator styles; preview, view, review; effective slide presentations; and story line approach.


Suggested Approaches and Solutions to Learning Exercises

In these suggested approaches and solutions, you’ll find key points to look for in students’ responses.

14.1 Chapter Review Questions (LO 14.1, LO 14.2, LO 14.3, LO 14.4, LO 14.5, LO 14.6)

A. Presenters should try to understand the chief concerns of audience members and build content into their presentations that address those concerns. Otherwise, audience members, even if they generally find merit some of the ideas in the presentation, will not focus sufficiently on or feel compelled by the key points. Rather, they’ll think mostly about their concerns and how the presentation doesn’t address them.

B. The most basic measure of presentation success is whether others act on your ideas. So, you should know who the decision makers are—since they will have the most influence on enacting your ideas—and then try to address their needs.

C. Professionals with red MVSs are attracted to action-oriented and results-oriented language and logic. They generally think concise and confident presentations are more persuasive. Professionals with blue MVSs connect to the use of “we” language and other relationship-centered terms. Analytically, blues will connect with a holistic approach to business benefits. They are attracted to business logic that includes more than just bottom-line measures of performance. Professionals with green MVSs generally pride themselves on a nonemotional approach to decision making and may be turned off by blatant appeals to emotion. They are often emotionally connected to precise language, well-designed visuals, and the ability to handle tough questions. Professionals with hub MVSs prefer a presentation that holds clear business logic with an emphasis on benefits to people. They prefer option-oriented language. As with communicator styles, audience members have different learning styles. Visual learners, who make up about 40% of the population, learn best from illustrations and simple diagrams to show relationships and key ideas. Auditory learners, who also comprise roughly 40% of the population, like loud, clear voices and believe emotion is best conveyed through voice. Kinesthetic learners, who make up about 20% of the population, need to participate to focus their attention on your message and learn best. They need group activities, hands-on activities, or breaks at least every 20 minutes.

D. Most people are able to remember only a few of your key points. So, you should identify clearly the few takeaway messages you want audience members to remember.

E. The preview orients the listeners, letting them know why they should care, what your direction will be for the presentation, and the frame for the entire presentation. The view includes your few key points with supporting details. The review involves summing up your key points and providing a call to action.

F. Students should be rewarded for carefully stating their two preferred attention-getters and providing a clear rationale and examples.


G. Common types of support materials for presentations include electronic slides, handouts, smartboards or whiteboards, and many other emerging technologies.

H. Principles of effective electronic slide use for presentations include creating a storyboard with slide titles and designing slides for ease of processing. In particular, the following principles improve ease of processing: limit the amount of information on slides, use font sizes audience members can read easily, focus on and highlight key information, use plenty of white space, use high-contrast backgrounds and colors, use compelling images in moderation, develop simple charts and diagrams, and get professional help when possible.

I. Taking the story line approach to presentations is often a winning strategy since people think in stories and remember information in stories more so than other formats. This storyline approach applies as well to the slide deck.

14.2 Communication Q&A Discussion Questions (LO 14.2, LO 14.4, LO 14.5)

A. Robertson says you should always spend time preparing for presentations. He explains that you should anticipate the needs of your audiences and practice the delivery but also stay flexible so you can respond appropriately during presentations.

B. He explains that people are visual and experiential. This implies that presentations should be visual and experiential to help audience members connect with presenters and their messages.

C. He points out that slides should generally be simple and easy to process. They should rely less on text and more on images.

D. Based on his experience, Robertson prefers visual slides to text-based slides. The best and most engaging presentations he has seen and delivered were image-based presentations.

14.3 Using Stories for Presentations (LO 14.5)

A. Denning says that stories are more persuasive and that people remember them more easily. He implies that stories are more engaging, participatory, and shared, thus eliminating some of the natural resistance people feel when they are told what to do in command-and-control approaches.

B. He makes clear that all people have this gift and should learn to apply it in constructive ways in professional environments. Students should be rewarded for their well-reasoned, goal-directed comments about how to learn storytelling.

C. Students should be rewarded for their well-reasoned responses.

14.4 Overcoming “Death by PowerPoint” (LO 14.4)

A. Rogers explains that the default way of organizing PowerPoint presentations is to use bullets. He thinks this is an uninspiring, disjointed approach to presenting ideas.


B. Students should be rewarded for their well-reasoned and creative responses. C. Students should be rewarded for their well-reasoned and creative responses.

14.5 Avoiding Bad PowerPoint Presentations (LO 14.4)

A. Some of the points include the following: (1) people use PowerPoint slides as a crutch; (2) PowerPoint slides may cover up sloppy thinking; (3) they take focus away from a presenter; (4) presenters reduce their ideas to a talking point approach highlighted by bullets and outlines; (5) PowerPoint slide decks usually bore audiences.

B. Reward students for carefully reasoned, complete responses.

14.6 Evaluating an Electronic Slide Presentation (LO 14.4)

Students should be rewarded for carefully constructed, accurate, and original responses.

Consider doing this as a group exercise in class and following up with a class debrief.

14.7 Self-Assessment: Your Approach to Planning Presentations (LO 14.2, LO 14.3, LO 14.4)

Responses will vary. Reward students for carefully constructed and nuanced responses. Also, reward students for self-reflective and goal-directed comments.

14.8 Evaluating Learning and Communicator Styles (LO 14.2)



14.9 Interviewing a Business Professional about Planning for Presentations (LO 14.1, LO 14.2, LO 14.3, LO-14-4)


Consider doing this as a team assignment with a related report.

14.10 Conducting a FAIR Test of a Recent Presentation (LO 14.6)

Students should be rewarded for carefully constructed and goal-directed comments.



14.11 Planning Attention-Getters (LO 14.3)



14.12 Creating Positioning and Preview Statements (LO 14.3)



14.13 Employing the PREP Method to Take Positions (LO 14.3)



14.14 Creating a Storyboard for Your Presentation (LO 14.4)



14.15 Creating Electronic Slides (LO 14.4)



14.16 Creating Electronic Slides from Reports (LO 14.4)




14.17 Review all rules in Appendix A about punctuation, number usage, and grammar. Then, rewrite each sentence to make all needed corrections.

A. Jim, I’m disappointed that many of our job candidates have rejected our high-compensation, attractive job offers during the past year.

B. I believe we’re facing a crisis if we can’t hire top-tier candidates. Soon we may face a major talent gap.

C. Job candidates may be dissatisfied with some of the following issues: career path, office locations, perceived work hours, sign-on bonus, and/or benefits.

D. I think we should organize a committee, which should include some of our more recent hires, to examine the reasons these job candidates are not accepting our offers.

E. I’d like you to give me some advice about the following: (a) employees to place on this committee, (b) charges to give the committee, (c) information to give the committee, and (d) timeline for the committee to complete its work.

F. Also, I’d like you to send me your impressions of the last five job candidates who declined our offers.

G. Since you got to know them so well, perhaps you could contact them personally and ask them directly why they chose not to accept our offers.

H. I think they will give you their candid views since you seemed to really connect with them. (no change)

I. I’m hoping that we make adjustments before our next recruiting season because we can’t afford to continue this hiring slump.

J. Thanks, Jim, for your efforts on behalf of the firm. You make a tremendous difference for us.


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